Territory
by FeralShadowwolf
Summary: When a friend of Lexa's comes to visit her at Sanctuary, things don't go as smoothly as planned. BS JL pairing. Enjoy! COMPLETE!
1. Night time chit chats

**Territory**

Faint footsteps came from Brennan's room, of which Shalimar could hear only because of her feral hearing. From what Shalimar had heard, Brennan had been up since 1:30am. It was now 3am. At first it had annoyed her, the constant pacing back and forth and back and forth, but now it had seemed soothing, almost natural. The steady beat, unchanging and continual. Although Shalimar deeply craved sleep, she had saved up enough energy to walk, half-consciously, to Brennan's room. She knocked quietly on Brennan's door, loud enough for him to hear, but still quiet enough so as that she wouldn't disturb the others. Brennan arrived at the door, in answer to her knock.

"Hey Shal, you're still up?" Brennan asked, while letting Shalimar in. They both sat on the bed instinctively.

"Yeah well, I could kinda hear you walking around." She said with a tired yawn.

"Oh, sorry. I've got a lot of stuff on my mind. I promise I'll be quiet." Brennan whispered.

"No," Shalimar yawned again. "I'm up now. So what's going on in that head of yours?"

"Oh nothing. But you know that!" Brennan childishly smiled. Shalimar playfully nudged him in return.

"No, really. Usually you sleep like a rock, something's up." Shalimar pushed.

"Since when do you have me so well figured?" Brennan asked, looking her in the eye. Shalimar averted her gaze.

"Well, you know. We've lived with each other for so long now, we're bound to know these things." Shalimar reasoned, playing with her nails. Her powder pink nail vanish had begun to wear away. Fast.

"Fair enough." Brennan let out with a sigh and fell backwards onto the comfort of his pillows. Shalimar looked at him plainly. So many thoughts entered her mind. Happiness, laughter, but also times of sadness and loss. When they had lost Adam and Emma, Brennan, Shalimar and Jesse all had to be there for each other more than anything. Then Lexa came along and everything started moving at fast pace again. Shalimar felt that she never had time to mourn her lost friends. Then again, she would probably have her entire life for that.

"So, you wanna do something then?" Brennan asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Huh?" Shalimar snapped back to reality.

"Do you wanna do something to pass the time?" Brennan said.

"Sure. What did you have in mind?" Shalimar asked, crossing her legs on her bed. A smug grin came from Brennan's face and Shalimar could tell what he was thinking.

"Oh no!" Shalimar smiled. "Absolutely not Mr. Mulwray!" Shalimar laughed and nudged him. Brennan laughed it off as he started tickling her. Shalimar fell into his arm on the bed and Brennan put his arm around her, keeping her warm.

"Brennan?" Shalimar whispered, looking into his eyes and Brennan connected with hers.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Is it ok if I just stay here tonight and fall asleep with you?" She almost purred.

"Sure," Brennan answered. "On one condition."

"I'm not taking anything off!" Shalimar smiled and now it was her turn to tickle him. Brennan tried not to laugh, but couldn't resist. She was so beautiful, strong and unpredictable. Brennan wanted her so much, but was scared he'd lose her friendship in the process. But sometimes, you need to see if you can get more out of something that could be really great.

"No. My condition is that tomorrow, you cook dinner for us." Brennan silently held his breath, awaiting his answer.

"Why Brennan, are you asking me on a date?" Shalimar inquired, praying inside that he was.

"Maybe. Would you be interested?" Brennan smiled.

"Absolutely. I must warn you though, I'm a terrible cook!" Shalimar laughed.

"Then you'll have to find a way to make it up to me." Brennan whispered in her ear. Smiling, they both surrendered to sleep with each other in their arms.


	2. The Morning After

The Morning After 

Brennan rolled over to the table beside his bed to check out the time on his watch. It was 9am. Shalimar was still sleeping, so he decided to silently slip out and get some breakfast. Jesse and Lexa weren't up yet; they were never up until about 11am. They were both really heavy sleepers. _Lucky them, _Brennan thought. Just as he was pouring out some cereal for breakfast, Shalimar walked in and Brennan was reminded of his joy when Shalimar accepted his invitation to dinner.

"Morning." Shalimar greeted brightly.

"Sleep well?" Brennan asked, now pouring the milk.

"Better than I've done in ages, you?" Shalimar asked, putting some bread in the toaster.

"Same. I was really comfy with you just sleeping there." Brennan admitted. Shalimar smiled, she always had a way of doing that to light up the darkest room.

"So, anything going on today?" She asked, hearing the toast jump out of the toaster.

"Nope. Well, not unless one of Lexa's 'sources' calls us. Again. I might work out in the training room after breakfast." He said, taking a mouthful of cereal.

"Hmm. Need a sparring partner?" Shalimar asked, whilst getting some juice and sitting down next to Brennan.

"Sure. I warn you though, I feel lucky today, I'm gonna kick your ass." Brennan taunted.

"You're gonna need more than luck Bren." Shalimar teased. Brennan pulled a face and Shalimar couldn't help but laugh.

"Ok," Shalimar said, cleaning up her plate. "I'm gonna go and get changed and I'll see you in the training room in 20 minutes?"

"Sounds good to me." Brennan confirmed. Shalimar began to walk away. "And Shal?" Brennan shouted. Shalimar turned back round to face him. "Don't forget about tonight." Brennan reminded her.

"Never." She flashed her golden feral eyes at Brennan and jogged back to her room. Brennan smiled and continued to eat his breakfast. _I love that woman, _he smiled to himself and finished up his cereal.


	3. Work It Out

Work It Out 

Shalimar had changed unto her usual sweatpants and hot pink tank top, revealing her awesome abs. Brennan had put on a white t-shirt and his sweatpants. He was ready for some action.

"Ok, ready?" Brennan asked Shalimar.

"I was born ready." She replied, laughing at the cheesy line.

Brennan threw the first punch, but Shalimar quickly dodged it and punched his stomach. Brennan rapidly recovered and threw a series of punches and kicks, and with Shalimar doing the same; he used all his blocking techniques as well. Shalimar kicked him, but this time he dodged it and punched her right in the face. She lost her balance and fell over backwards. Shalimar quickly flipped back up with perfect precision and flashed her feral eyes at Brennan defensively. He didn't take it personally; Shalimar always got a little defensive when she fought, even if it was just training. Brennan and Shalimar were circling each other now, each waiting for the other to strike. Shalimar delivered more punches and kicks, more fiercely this time. All Brennan could do was block and with every step Shalimar took towards him was a step backwards for him. She kept on coming; each punch flawless, and Brennan was getting tired. Then there it was. The final blow that he knew would take him down, unbeknownst to Shalimar. An upward punch connected with Brennan chin, snapping his head back and sending him flying backwards.

When he hit the floor, Shalimar could see he was badly hurt and rushed over beside him, as he was lying on the floor.

"Brennan? Are you ok?" Shalimar asked worriedly. Brennan was barely conscious.

"Give me a sec." Brennan answered and rubbed the back of his neck. Shalimar couldn't help but feel terribly guilty.

"I'm so sorry, Bren." Shalimar apologised. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, I can think of one thing." He smiled, grabbed Shalimar and rolled over her so that he was on top.

"Hey, that's not fair. You know I'll give cos I feel guilty kicking your ass." Shalimar smiled, looking deep into his eyes. _He has such amazing eyes! _

"That's the idea." Brennan laughed. Without a moment of hesitation, Shalimar pulled herself up toward Brennan and kissed him. Brennan made no effort to fight back; he simply just kissed her back. Shalimar slowly broke off the kiss and smiled.

"Well, I'd just like to think that there will be more of that tonight." Brennan assumed whilst still on top of her.

"How can I ever resist?" Shalimar whispered. Brennan was about to kiss her again.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." A new voice said.

"Jesse," Shalimar sounded a bit shocked, and pushing Brennan off her, they both stood up. "We were just, uh, well we were, um…" Shalimar looked to Brennan for a little help.

"I hurt my neck and Shal was just helping make sure it was ok." Brennan lied, while not so convincingly rubbing his neck. Jesse just smiled as if to say _yeah, right! _

"Was there something you wanted Jess?" Shalimar changed the subject.

"Yeah, right," Jesse said, turning his attention to the real reason he was here. "Brennan, did you finish the cereal again?"

"Yep, sorry Jess. Did you want some?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah. Oh well, I'll just make Lexa and I an omelette or something." Jesse finished. Brennan and Shalimar looked at each other with a tad of embarrassment showing on their faces, probably from getting caught. _Yep, there's definitely something going on there, _Jesse inwardly smiled. "Well, I'll let you two continue with…" Jesse motioned with his hands and then walked off back to the breakfast room.

"Nothing Happened!" Brennan shouted after him. A faint "whatever" came from Jesse's direction.

"I don't think Jess was too convinced." Shalimar concluded, sighing.

"I think you're right." Brennan agreed.

"Ok, well, I'm gonna go take a shower." Shalimar said, as she headed for the door.

"You don't wanna train anymore?" Brennan asked, half disappointed, but half relieved, as he wouldn't get his butt kicked again.

"No, I need to conserve my energy." Shalimar said, smiling.

"For what?" Brennan asked, as Shalimar exited the room.

"For tonight." Came the faint reply. Brennan smiled, he liked the sound of that. As Brennan was pondering his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed another presence in the room.

A low, seducing voice greeted him, "Hello Brennan."

"So, where is everybody?" Lexa asked, as she ate her scrambled egg and bacon breakfast that Jesse had made for her.

"Well," Jesse said as he put the egg and bacon on a plate for himself. "Brennan and Shal were in the training room for an early one on one, but I think there's a little more than sparring going on in there." Jesse smiled and joined Lexa at the table.

"Finally." Lexa muttered.

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked confused.

"Come on. It's obvious they've had a thing for each other since forever." Lexa stated, finishing up her breakfast.

"Not to me." Jesse said. Lexa shrugged and got up.

"Thanks for breakfast Jess." She took her plate and loaded it into the dishwasher.

"No problem. Before you came, I was the only one to sleep in late, it's nice to have breakfast with someone." Jesse smiled, and Lexa then did the same. She understood that when Emma and Adam died, it had taken a huge toll on everyone. Jesse seemed to miss Emma more than anything.

"Jess, can I ask you a question?" Lexa inquired, sitting back down beside him, looking nervous.

"Sure. Shoot." Jesse replied, still eating his food.

"Did you, when Emma was alive, were you…" Lexa paused to find the right word. "Together?" Jesse stopped eating her breakfast to think carefully about his answer.

"Well, there were times that we both felt really deeply about each other, and to be honest, I think I'll always feel deeply towards her, but no, we were never really together." Jesse replied. Lexa looked at him, not sure how to take that. Jesse looked at her and realised that she looked almost disappointed by his answer.

"Are you jealous?" Jesse accused. Lexa shot him a look. Surprised, maybe even confused.

"No, that's not it. I just wondered, cos well, Brennan and Shal are like always flirting and I just wondered if you and Emma ever had a thing." She said, convincingly. Jesse just smiled.

"Look," Lexa said, getting up. Obviously she was feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I'm gonna go and do… something." She then rapidly exited the breakfast room.

"Lexa!" Jesse shouted after her. No reply. "I was just kidding." Jesse turned back toward his eggs and realised he wasn't hungry anymore. "I think." He added silently. He threw the rest of the food away and retreated to the Rec. Room.

Note to reader: Please review, tell me what you think so far. Also, if it sucks so far, tell me. Criticism is the best advise!


	4. Kayley

Kayley 

Brennan swerved round immediately after hearing that voice. No one was behind him.

"Where are you?" Brennan asked, taking a light-fighting stance.

"Wherever you want me to be." The voice replied. It was very seducing, which indicated it was a woman.

"Show yourself now!" Brennan raised his voice. A woman about Lexa's height appeared and shone light out around her. She had chestnut brown hair, dark eyes and full red lips. Obviously she was a chromatic molecular like Lexa, with the ability to manipulate light. Brennan broke out of his fighting stance.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Brennan asked defensively. "Easy." She purred. "Lexa asked me to come." She walked right past him, out of the room. _There's something that doesn't feel right about her, _Brennan thought and followed her out. There was no way he was going to leave her alone until her story checked out.

"Hey Lex," Brennan talked into his comring, whilst walking a few steps behind the new mutant.

"Yeah," Lexa replied. "What's up?"

"Did you send for a new mutant with your abilities?" Brennan asked.

"Is Kayley here?" Lexa asked, with excitement in her voice.

"Yeah, if that's her name." Brennan replied.

"How come you didn't tell us she was coming?"

"I didn't know if she'd show. Can you take her to the living room? I'm in there." Lexa answered.

"Hey, I've just realised I have no clue where I'm going. Why not be a gentleman and escort me there?" Kayley broke in, smiling innocently.

"Sure." Brennan had no trouble escorting her to the living room. In the living room, Lexa was sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine. When she saw Kayley, she immediately got up.

"Hey Kayley!" Lexa greeted, giving her a hug.

"Hey Lex!" Kayley smiled.

"Well it looks like you guys have some catching up to do, so I'll be gone." Brennan said. "Nice meeting you." He said to Kayley.

"And you." Kayley replied and flashed a flirty smile. After that, Brennan left, leaving Kayley and Lexa chatting.

"So, Kayley, how have you been?" Lexa asked when they were both seated comfortably on the sofa.

"Fine. Went to Italy, some yummy guys there!" Kayley smiled and Lexa let out a little laugh. "You?"

"Well, obviously I've been here after the Dominion had asked me to come, but it's not all that bad." Lexa confessed.

"Cool." Kayley said, showing minor interest. "So, about Brennan. Is he seeing anyone?" Kayley inquired, smiling innocently.

"That's so like you, always hitting on the first guy you see!" Lexa laughed. "But yeah, Shal and Brennan sorta have this thing between them. I don't know what it is, hell; I don't even think they know what it is, but I wouldn't butt in." Lexa warned. Kayley looked disappointed, but on the inside, she smiled, _if they're not serious, then there's no harm in trying. _

"So, anyone special in your life?" Kayley asked, changing the subject.

"You know me. I've always felt that personal relationships get in the way, but I don't know. It's kinda confusing around Jesse." Lexa confessed.

"Oh yeah, that's the molecular, right?" Kayley asked.

"Yeah." Lexa answered. As if on queue, Jesse entered the room.

"Hey Lex, have you seen my book?" Jesse asked, totally ignoring Kayley. A small cough came from Kayley. Lexa looked at her strangely and then got the hint.

"Oh, right. Jesse-Kayley, Kayley-Jesse." Lexa did the quick introduction.

"Nice meeting you." Jesse shook her hand.

"You too." Kayley winked at him seductively. Jesse ignored it.

"So Lex, about my book?" Jesse pressed.

"Sorry Jess, haven't seen it." Lexa answered and shrugged.

"No problem." He smiled at her and left. After Kayley had made sure he was gone, she had a huge smile on her face.

"He is totally into you!" Kayley squealed, clapping her hands.

"Is not." Lexa retorted. Obviously Kayley was seeing something that wasn't there.

"So is! Did you see the way he ignored me and smiled at you? I've never seen a guy so interested in you and less interested at me!" Kayley argued. Lexa had nothing to say to that. She believed Kayley had just made her point.

"So, Jess likes me?" Lexa asked, trying to process this.

"Yep. God you're blind!" Kayley replied. She seemed more excited than Lexa by this news.

"And you like him too, this is so perfect! Maybe I could set you guys up!"

"Wow, wait a minute, back up. Who said I like him too?" Lexa argued

"Please! I saw you look at his ass on the way out!" Kayley smiled.

"Did not!" Lexa protested, hitting Kayley playfully.

"Did too!" Kayley grabbed Lexa's ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Lexa moaned.

"Admit it and I'll let go!" Kayley promised.

"Ok! I like Jesse!" Lexa admitted and Kayley let her go. Lexa realised that hearing herself say it cleared everything up.

"Thanks Kay, I think I needed that." Lexa hugged her.

"No, prob. If you ever need someone to tug at your ear again, call me!" Kayley smiled.

"If you don't mind, I'm gonna go talk to Jesse. If you want to stay here tonight, the guest bedroom's free and there's food in the kitchen." Lexa said.

"If I can stay here for a while, that would be great. Now, go get your man!" Kayley laughed. Lexa shot her a warning look and then left.

_Now I have time to concentrate on Brennan, _Kayley wickedly thought.

Shalimar had taken a shower earlier and was now in her room contemplating about what to cook for Brennan tonight. At some point, Shalimar had looked on the web for recipes, but nothing seemed right. So over time, Shalimar had come up with the ultimate foolproof plan. Chinese takeout. She'd just claim that she had made it herself. Knowing Brennan, he would see right through her, but it didn't matter. Tonight had to be perfect. Tonight she was going to confess her true feelings for Brennan. A knock came from her door.

"Come in." Shalimar shouted, not bothering to get up. A woman with brown hair and an offensive stance stood at her door.

"Hi, I'm Kayley, Lexa's friend. I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself since I'm staying for a while. I hope you don't mind." Kayley's innocent smile and perky attitude seemed unnatural and unreal. Shalimar believed she was acting, but why?

"Hi, I'm-" Shalimar began.

"Shalimar. Yeah, I know, Lexa's been emailing me for a while and telling me about you guys. I've already met Jess and Bren." Kayley finished. There was something too casual about how she said their names. Shalimar was suspicious, a gut feeling or instinct lead her to believe that there was more to Kayley than she portrayed.

"Right then, well great to meet you!" Shalimar decided that she would sarcastically be perky as well, then maybe Miss Mutant Barbie would get away from her.

With that, Kayley felt that it was her time to leave and with a peppy smile, went outside. _Well she was mean, _Kayley pouted. She went to her guest bedroom, where she had already had put her suitcase and closed her door.

"Well, getting in and being excepted was the easy part." Kayley muttered to herself. "Now for the hard part." Kayley went into her suitcase and bought out a silver bladed knife, with an old Celtic pattern on the handle. She also pulled out a sleeping gas container capable of knocking out an elephant. Why was she doing this? Simple. She needed the money. It was nothing personal to Shalimar, but they wanted a strong feline feral and Kayley promised that she could deliver. Kayley didn't know what they wanted Shalimar for, but she needed the money more than she could care what would happen.

"Please forgive me Lex." Kayley muttered as she tucked the knife into her shoe. She headed out of her room again with the knife and gas container and headed for the Rec. Room.


	5. Kidnapped

Kidnapped 

Brennan and the others were all hanging out in the Rec. Room for their weekly meeting. Everyone was there except for Kayley. Brennan still liked, maybe even loved Shalimar, but there was something mysterious about Kayley that was very attractive to him.

"So nothing new has come through, but still, be on the alert." Lexa was saying and Brennan snapped his head round to look at her. Then Kayley entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late." Kayley smiled at Brennan and took a seat beside him. Shalimar saw her and glared.

"Actually, nothing here really concerns you." Shalimar said sweetly, but sourly on the inside.

"Still, I'd like to know what's going on." Kayley replied giving Shalimar a you're-not-going-to-get-rid-of-me-that-easy look. Brennan noticed that Shalimar seemed tense around Kayley, keeping her guard up and he didn't understand why. _She must be feeling territorial, _Brennan concluded.

"So, meeting adjourned?" Jesse asked.

"Yep." Lexa answered. She still hadn't talked to Jesse about anything of any importance, they just chatted for a while about what their lives were like pre-Mutant X. Everyone got up to leave.

"Actually, I have something I want to say." Kayley said, standing up. Everyone resumed their seats. Shalimar was curious on what 'Barbie Girl' had to say.

"First of all," Kayley began, but then instantly let out a ray of light that blinded everyone, except Kayley. Kayley took that opportunity to throw the sleeping gas container at them and then got out of the room as fast as she could. Kayley could see Lexa struggling, trying to fight it. She felt a small pang of guilt for Lexa, but not strong enough to convince her that she was wrong doing what she was doing.

"I'm sorry." Kayley said, just before Lexa dropped into unconsciousness, like everyone else had around her. Now, with everybody asleep, Kayley put on a gas mask and entered the room. Heading for Shalimar, she got out her knife, just in case Shalimar was coming around. Ferals were very strong and things didn't last as long on them as it would any other type of mutant. Kayley checked Shalimar's eyes. _Nope, definitely unconscious, _Kayley convinced herself. With that, she picked Shalimar up and carried her out of Sanctuary and into Shalimar's car.

"Sorry Shal." Kayley murmured, not really meaning it. "But I come first and I get what I want." Kayley took the keys out of Shalimar's pocket and put Shalimar in the boot of her BMW. She then got in the front seat and drove away from Sanctuary with intense speed.

Jesse was the first one to wake up, still feeling a little hazy from the gas. Jesse tried to recall the details of everything that happened. Something about Kayley…light…gas. _Agh, my head, _Jesse moaned. A huge headache had formed since he'd been unconscious. He saw Lexa still asleep and went over there to wake her up. _She looks so beautiful when she's sleeping, _Jesse thought and smiled to himself.

"Lexa." Jesse nudged her gently to wake her up. "Lexa." He repeated. Lexa soon became conscious again, having a confused look on her face.

"Jesse? What Happened?" Lexa asked, getting up and looking around the room at a still unconscious Brennan.

"I don't know, but Kayley and Shalimar are gone." Jesse replied, going to wake up Brennan.

"Brennan, man, get up." Jesse lightly kicked him. He woke up rubbing his head.

"Oh man! My head hurts like hell!" Was Brennan's immediate reaction to waking up from the gas.

"Yeah, mine too." Lexa agreed. Brennan looked around.

"Where's Shal?" Brennan asked, directing it to Lexa.

"I don't know, but wherever she is, Kayley's there too. Best guess is, they were kidnapped." Lexa explained.

"But that's not possible. This is Sanctuary, a rat couldn't get in here without us knowing, let alone a person." Brennan argued.

"Maybe they found a way in." Lexa offered.

"No, I think I'm gonna have to agree with Brennan. Our security is fine. I think Kayley kidnapped Shalimar." Jesse backed Brennan up. Lexa had a surprised look on her face and crossed her arms.

"No way! I've known Kayley since forever and I trust her. You know me, I never trust anyone, but I do trust her!" Lexa shouted.

"Wait, something's coming back to me." Brennan said, rubbing his forehead. "Um, a really bright light came from Kayley… then some gas came, and now, come to think of it, before I blacked out, I couldn't see Kayley in the room, but Shalimar was definitely down." Brennan explained.

"So you're suggesting that Kayley blinded us, knocked us out and kidnapped Shalimar?" Lexa summed up.

"It makes sense Lex." Brennan sighed. He let Kayley slip through his fingers and now Shalimar was gone.

"Plus it's the only explanation we've got." Jesse added.

"Well it's wrong." Lexa said and walked out of the room, as Jesse and Brennan just watched her go.

"We've got to find Shal." Brennan turned his attention to Jesse.

"I know, but first we need to get Lexa." Jesse said.

"We can deal with Lexa's issues later, Shalimar has been kidnapped and who knows where she is or even _who _she's with." Brennan shouted. _Jesse needs to get his priorities straight, _Brennan thought angrily.

"Yeah, but we stand a better chance with Lexa on our side, helping us to get Shalimar back." Jesse argued, crossing his arms.

"You really think she's going to go against her best friend?" Brennan bluntly asked.

"Look, she's just found out that the person she trusted more than anything has totally betrayed her. Would you be ok?" Jesse defended.

"All I'm saying is that we need to get Shal back. We can trace her on her comring." Brennan said, heading for the computer.

"Fine, but let's do this quickly." Jesse said, leaving the room with Brennan. _Lexa's going through something, _Jesse thought, _and I wanna be there for her._

Shalimar was in a cell; very familiar to the one she was in as a child at that psyche ward. The walls were tiled white, as were the ceiling and floor. Shalimar could faintly smell human blood on the walls and could only imagine how it got there. She had been conscious for about an hour, having no clue about how long she was out. All she could remember was a bright light and gas. Lots of it. She saw Brennan, Jesse and Lexa before she had fallen asleep, but Kayley had disappeared. Shalimar had tried calling someone, anyone, through her comring, but no one had answered. All she could figure is that this place somehow deactivated her electronically and genetically made ring. Shalimar turned her head towards the door. Her feral hearing informed her that someone was coming. The door swung open, but a blocking force appeared so that she couldn't get to the door and escape.

"Hello Shalimar." A man with thin greying hair, a white moustache and very smart suit entered the room.

"You know me?" Shalimar asked, sitting down and trying to look unimpressed.

"Sort of. I used to work with Adam and inside sources told me all I needed to know about Mutant X." The man answered.

"Ok. So who are you? And why am I here?" Shalimar had loads of questions she needed answered.

"My name is Jonathon Fromall. You are here because I need a feline feral and somebody wanted you out of the way, as well as money, for getting you here." Jonathon explained.

"And who is this somebody?" Shalimar inquired, squinting her eye.

"Me." Kayley entered the room wearing black leather and heavier make up than she had on before. _Lexa trusted her! _Shalimar thought, feeling sorry for Lexa.

"You?" Shalimar asked. "Why?"

"Well, I needed money, they needed a feral. I saw you first and Lexa told me you and Brennan were kinda a thing." Kayley smiled evilly. "And I want him."

Shalimar jumped up and ran at her, forgetting about the force field. Kayley laughed cruelly and gave Mr. Fromall a look, which indicated he should leave, and he did.

"Don't you dare go near him, or I'll-" Shalimar glared at her with hate.

"Or you'll what?" Kayley interrupted. "Moan at me? Give me evil looks? Admit it hon, you're not going anywhere and I'm walking free." Kayley smiled and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Shalimar called out to her. "What about Lexa?"

"What about her?" Kayley shrugged. _God, what a heartless bitch! _Shalimar thought.

"She trusted you. She told you everything. Doesn't it bother you that you hurt her?" Shalimar tried to find some sort of weakness. Kayley looked to the floor for a second, as if she was considering this, but then looked back up to Shalimar defiantly, with as much attitude as she had before.

"I am sorry about that, I really did like Lexa, but I really, really needed this money." Kayley explained. Shalimar looked at her and saw how pathetic she was. Her instincts about Kayley were spot on from the start.

"Where are we anyway?" Shalimar was going to pump her for as much information as she could get.

"I don't see how that makes any difference to you." Kayley spat back. Shalimar just glared at her. _I really don't like her, _Shalimar thought.

"Well, I must be off. I've delivered you and got my money. Now I'll go see where Brennan is." Kayley smiled, knowing it would get a rise out of her. Shalimar clenched her fists.

"If you go near him, I swear I'll kill you!" Shalimar threatened and flashed her feral eyes at her.

"I'll like to see you try." With that, Kayley left Shalimar with her thoughts and visions of the exact way she was going to get revenge.

"Bad news." Jesse said feeling frustrated.

"What is it?" Brennan asked, stepping away from his computer to go to Jesse's.

"Well, Shalimar comring signal isn't showing up anywhere." Jesse informed him.

"How is that possible? Shal wouldn't have taken it off." Brennan said worriedly.

"Well, it could either mean one of two things. A) She's been taken someplace where it instantly deactivates the ring or it could be B). The only other way for the comring to stop working is if the energy stopped pumping toward it. And our DNA keys in the comring to us specifically. So if she died, the ring would stoop working." Jesse explained, with a dreadful thought in his head.

"No! No way!" Brennan was not going to except that. "Shal is stronger than that, there no way that she's dead!"

"I don't wanna except it either, but we have no idea where she is or who she's with!" Jesse pointed out.

"There's gotta be another way to find her!" Brennan shouted. Jesse was deep in thought, as was Brennan. Lexa still hadn't come out of her room. She seemed to have disagreed with Jesse and Brennan violently.

"Wait a minute," Brennan said, realisation hit him. "How did Kayley and Shal get away?"

"Um, they took Shal's car. Why?" Brennan's face lit up like a Christmas tree and Jesse looked confused.

"That's fantastic! I put a tracker on Shal's car ages ago and to my knowledge, she hasn't taken it off." Brennan pushed Jesse out of his chair and got into his personal file with the information on the tracker on Shalimar's car. As he was going through it, Jesse began to smile.

"Bren, why did you put a tracker on Shal's car?" Jesse smiled, already knowing the answer.

"I wanted to protect her." Brennan shrugged.

"Have you put a tracker on anyone else's car?" Jesse asked.

"No." Brennan started to get what Jesse was saying. He turned around to look at Jesse with an all-knowing smile on his face.

"Shut up, man!" Brennan laughed and hit him with a pillow. "Ok, look, there." Brennan pointed to the little dot on the screen, symbolising Shalimar's car.

"It looks like they're somewhere near the restaurant on 5th Street that we went to last month." Jesse pointed out.

"Wow, you have a good memory." Brennan complimented, looking surprised.

"Comes in handy." Jesse smiled. "Ok, let's get Lexa and go after Shal."

"I thought we talked about this." Brennan complained.

"If we're going to get Shal, we need Lexa with us. Or do you want to take out like 50 guards by yourself?" Jesse reasoned.

"Good point. You get Lexa and I'll start up the Helix." Brennan compromised. With that, they both went their separate ways.


	6. Rescued

Note: I would quickly like to thank PsiGen, MariShal and Mxfan214 for their kind reviews, keep 'em coming!

Rescued 

It had been another hour since Kayley had left, although it seemed like two. The force field thing had gone since Kayley had left, but the door was locked again. Shalimar had tried busting the door open several times, but it was solid steel and not even she could get past that. A few times she had heard voices, people talking about what they were going to do with her. Shalimar had been in kidnapping situations before and the team had always pulled through. _But I don't know, _Shalimar thought to herself, _this time it feels different. _She wasn't scared about what they'd do to her. That was always the same story. Torture, torture and some more torture before asking her what they wanted to know and when she didn't tell them, there would be more torture. _That_ she could handle, but what she couldn't handle was never telling Brennan her feeling for him. Then visions of Kayley getting to him first got into her head and then thoughts of him and Kayley together… It was too much! Thinking about the two of them just enraged her more. There was no way she was going to die here without bringing Kayley down first. Now it was on.

"Lexa?" Jesse said, knocking and opening her door. Her found her sitting on her bed, looking at a picture of herself and Kayley when they were kids. Her eyes were all puffy and red, no doubt she'd been crying.

"How are you?" Jesse sympathised, he too knew what it was like to be betrayed.

"Oh, you know." Lexa said, straightening up and trying to act as if it was no big deal. Jesse saw right through her.

"You don't have to be brave all the time, you know." Said Jesse, sitting down beside her. Lexa didn't want to cry in front of anyone, least of all Jesse, but she couldn't hold it in.

"She was my best friend!" Lexa sobbed, taking comfort on Jesse's shoulder. He made calming "shh" noises, but they didn't seem to take much effect. "I mean, I can't believe she'd do this to me! To us!"

"I know, but you have to face it. There's no excuse for what she did, but we have to go help Shal." Jesse said, looking into her eyes. She was an emotional wreck, but Jesse loved her all the same. There's nothing he wouldn't do for her.

"I know," She said, wiping her tears. "I can deal with this later." Lexa got up from the bed and headed for the door.

"Lex," Jesse stopped her and she turned back round to look at him. "I'll always be here for you." He promised and smiled at her lovingly. _He's so wonderful! _Lexa thought and smiled to herself.

"Thanks Jess." She replied. Jesse got up and gave her a hug and then they both headed for the Helix.

Kayley had pulled up to Sanctuary in a car Mr. Fromall had lent her in thanks for her efforts, as well as the money of course. _Ok, I have to make this look convincing, _Kayley thought. She'd found the perfect explanation that would get Brennan and the others to trust her again. She ran in, slightly limping and looking panicked, with tears steaming down her face. She ran into Brennan, who looked first confused, then angry.

"You have some nerve coming back here!" Brennan threatened, clenching his firsts.

"Oh god, Brennan!" She cried between sobs. "You don't really believe it was me do you? The gas came and knocked Shal and I out and the next thing I know I woke up in a lab! I swear!" Kayley cried, tears rolling down her face at every angle. Jesse and Lexa rushed in to see a confused Brennan and a sobbing Kayley. Lexa was completely confused.

"Lex!" Kayley cried. "You've got to believe me!"

"I told you guys!" Lexa defended. Brennan and Jesse weren't still all that convinced.

"Lexa, it could be a trick. I don't think we should trust her…" Jesse said, but seeing Lexa's crushed face, he quickly added, "At least, not yet."

"Hang on a minute," Brennan interrupted. "I presume these people who took you didn't just let you walk out, so how did you get away?"

"When this guy who was guarding me wasn't looking, I hit him over the head. He passed out and I used my invisibility to get out. I stole a car and here I am." She explained, sniffling.

"Ok, is everyone convinced?" Lexa defended Kayley.

"It'll do for now, but why did you leave Shal?" Jesse asked.

"We got separated and I thought it best to get you guys and have back up. I don't know anything about the guy who got us, so I thought it wasn't a smart idea to go up against him alone." She lied convincingly.

"One more question. Why did you blind us with the light?" Brennan squinted his eye.

"One of the reasons I came here was to ask for help. My powers have been, well, malfunctioning for a while now and wondered if Lexa had the same thing going on or if it was just me." Kayley answered.

"It does seem plausible. It happened to us." Jesse concluded. "Lex, have your powers been malfunctioning?"

"Not to my knowledge." Lexa shrugged. "Still, might be, I haven't used them in ages."

"Wanna try now?" Brennan asked, still keeping an eye on Kayley. He still wasn't sure where her loyalties lied.

"Sure." Lexa replied. A flash of light filled the room and she was invisible, bending the light to her will. "I feel fine."

"It's probably just me then." Kayley concluded.

"Ok, now that's sorted, can we go and get Shal?" Brennan asked, feeling impatient that we were wasting time.

"You know where she is?" Kayley looked quite surprised while Jesse nodded. Brennan noticed this.

"What? Not what you expected?" He accused.

"No, it's just I'm grateful that you found her." Kayley covered. _Brennan does not trust me yet, but he will, _she thought, _Shalimar will be dead long before he'll get to her. _

"Good, let's get going." Jesse said, as he headed for the Helix.

"Wait," Kayley said and everyone turned around to look at her. "Don't you think two of us should stay here and the other two go and get Shalimar?"

"What's the point in that?" Jesse asked and Lexa started to look at her suspiciously, although she felt that she had earned Lexa's trust. _I have to step carefully here; they suspect something, _Kayley thought.

"Well, what if she gets moved and her comring switches on, then how are you going to find her, the Helix wouldn't be able to provide that information." Kayley reasoned.

"Hang on a sec," Brennan said, looking as if he was thinking. "How did you know that Shal's comring wasn't working?"

"Well, er, you told me a while ago." Kayley said, as she was beginning to perspire and Brennan could see it.

"No I didn't." Brennan said, crossing his arms. Lexa opened her eyes widely in disbelief.

"No! No way!" Lexa said in response to the looks there were giving to Kayley.

"Lex, don't you think it's kinda suspicious that her powers 'malfunctioned' coincidently with the gas and she was able to get out without anyone realising?" Jesse reasoned, he was beginning to make sense of everything.

"Look, I know this all sounds bad, but there's been an explanation with every one of those. Right, Kay?" Lexa turned around. Kayley was gone.

"Oh great, she must of gone invisible while we were arguing." Brennan said, running to the Helix with Jesse running behind him.

"Guys, I'm gonna stay here. She may have just wanted to get into our computer." Lexa called after them.

"Ok, we'll be back with Shal soon." Jesse called back and smiled at her reassuringly. Lexa smiled back and then turned back to the Rec. Room while Brennan and Jesse lifted off in the Helix.

"I'm such an idiot!" Brennan muttered to himself.

"Huh?" Jesse asked.

"Oh nothing, just talking to myself." Brennan explained. _I can't believe I was such an idiot, _Brennan thought, _I was attracted to Kayley! Sure I didn't know back then that she was working against us, but Shalimar knew and he'd just dismissed her. Now Shalimar was in danger cos he'd been an idiot! A big one. _Brennan mentally kicked himself over and over again until he'd forced a migraine. _I hope Shal will forgive me. _

"Ok, we're coming up to the car's location." Jesse said, snapping Brennan out of his own self-pity.

"Lex, is there still no change to Shal's comring status?" Brennan spoke into his comring.

"Nope, but there is a building you can land on top of, but you'll have to stay in stealth mode." Lexa replied.

"Ok, thanks. Still no sign of Kayley?" Jesse asked, pulling out the landing clamps.

"No, I recon she's left. What's the point in staying?" Lexa said dryly.

"Ok, we're landing." Brennan interrupted, and with a thud, they landed.

"We'll keep you updated Lex, but we've gotta go." Jesse said, leaving the Helix.

"Good luck." Lexa replied.

"Ready Jess." Brennan said it more as a statement than a question.

"Yep." Jesse answered.

"If they've hurt Shal, I'll gonna blow them all sky high." Brennan vowed angrily, getting his leather jacket and left the Helix.

Shalimar had been bored rigid in her cell and had only one visitor. A guy in there just to check her out and give her comments on her body. Unluckily for him, he had forgotten to put the force field up, so she was able to beat him to a bloody pulp before his buddies came in and electrified her so many times as to make her bleed and bruise. She'd be sore in the morning, assuming she's make it that long, one of her cuts had already started to get infected. Still, beating that guy up had made her situation seem less crap. It was definitely a high for her. She still had no clue where she was or why she was here, but so far it hadn't been too bad and often wondered why she hadn't been tortured and pumped for info yet, not that she was complaining. The door swung open, much to her surprise, as she heard no one coming.

"Hello again Ms. Fox." Mr. Fromall smugly greeted, entering her cell. Shalimar flashed her feral eyes in hopes to get a rise out of her captor.

"Well," He was slightly taken aback, but only slightly. "Are you ready to go then?"

"Go where?" She spat back.

"To the lab. Consider it a science lesson called 'The Anatomy of a Feral'." He smirked. Shalimar wasn't great at science, but she did know that anatomy meant 'body parts'. _This does not look good, _Shalimar told herself.

"Grab her." He commanded the four guards behind him. The force field came down. This was her only chance. Despite her injuries, she got up and rammed herself into all of her opponents, knocking them over, including herself. She rapidly got up and ran out of the room, as she ran she could hear faint moans coming from the guards she had knocked over. Realising she had no idea where she was going, she ran to the end of the hall, where a door seemed to lead out. She ran toward it faster and faster, hearing the guards get up and calling their friends to get her. She rushed through the door, where Kayley had been waiting for her like a spider for a fly. She injected Shalimar far too quickly for Shalimar to do anything about it, and, with one final glare, Shalimar was knocked unconscious.

"You know," Kayley said, looking at the body on the floor. "You really piss me off!"


	7. Endings or Beginnings

Endings or Beginnings 

Shalimar was slowly waking up from her sleep and instantly noticed that she was still, unfortunately, in the building. Only now, she was in a lab. _Well, shit, _Shalimar groaned. She was strapped down with chains on a freezing metal table with knife-happy 'surgeons' all around her. _Kayley, _Shalimar clenched her teeth. _That bitch! _

"Wake up sleepy head." Kayley taunted her.

"What are you doing back here?" Shalimar growled.

"I thought I'd like to come and watch you die." Kayley answered, but Shalimar could see she was hiding something.

"What happened? Brennan not quite so attracted to you as you thought?" Shalimar smirked, but unexpectedly Kayley smiled back.

"On the contrary, Brennan's quite the athlete in bed, but you wouldn't know, would you?" Kayley smiled. Shalimar felt a sharp pain in her chest. Heartbreak.

"You're lying!" Shalimar shouted and Kayley could see that she touched a nerve.

"Ask him yourself." She replied, then looking at her chains. "Oh right, you can't." Then, turning to Mr. Fromall she said. "Go ahead." Mr. Fromall and his surgeons walked towards Shalimar, looking a little too keen to cut into her.

"Brennan and I will miss you, but I'm sure, in time, we'll manage." Kayley laughed and left the room. The surgeon closest to her walked up to her with an injector, no doubt more of the sleepy stuff she had experienced earlier, although this time she doubted she'd wake up.

"Goodbye Ms. Fox." Said Mr. Fromall and she screamed as the liquid was injected into her skin.

"Shal!" Brennan shouted as he ran into the building where he had heard her scream.

"Brennan!" Jesse called and ran in after Brennan. Brennan opened the door into the building and ran to the stairs, following Shalimar's screams, which seemed to be dying down. Jesse was still behind Brennan, but getting tired and had to pause for a few minutes, but Brennan hardly noticed. The final scream concluded where Shalimar was and busted open a door, seeing an unconscious Shalimar and half a dozen surgeons. One surgeon had already cut deep into Shalimar's stomach and her blood was smothered all over her and the hands of the surgeon.

"You bastards!" Brennan whispered and hit each surgeon, including Mr. Fromall, with the highest voltage electricity blast he'd ever done; which was sure to knock all of them into a coma if not killed them. He ran over to Shalimar and found a very faint pulse.

"Thank god." He muttered. Jesse came running through the door, looking at all the unconscious guys on the floor.

"Did I miss much?" Jesse asked sarcastically, but Brennan just ignored him.

"Come on. Shalimar's not looking so good and if we don't get her back to Sanctuary now, she could die." Brennan said, picking Shalimar up and carrying her out rapidly. Jesse looked at Shalimar's bruised and bloody body and felt sick.

"Oh crap." Turning his attention back to Brennan. "I doubt Kayley just disappeared. I think she may come back." Jesse said.

"Maybe, but let's worry about that later." Brennan said, once again taking lead to the Helix.

"You shouldn't worry so much Jess," Brennan said as he sat Shalimar down and took off. "You'll get wrinkles."

Shalimar woke up in a familiar room, lying on her own bed. _God, I love my bed, _Shalimar grinned. She looked around and her clock indicated that it was night. She had bandages all over her, covering each wound, and the infected one seemed to have been cleaned up. She'd have to thank Jesse for that later. Her bruises were still there though.

"I knew that would hurt this morning." Shalimar muttered. Shalimar jumped as she heard a knock on the door and Brennan came in.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Brennan asked gently, as he sat next to her on the bed. Shalimar's body felt like a blade had sliced her open, and her head felt like lead and little did she remember. However, she did remember what Kayley had told her about herself and Brennan.

"A little groggy." Shalimar said, whilst Brennan twirled her hair around his fingers. Shalimar didn't feel comfortable now when he did that, knowing what he had done. What he had done to _her._

"Please don't do that." Shalimar said quietly and Brennan looked surprised.

"What? Twirl your hair? I've always done it before." Brennan said, slightly confused.

"Yeah, well that was before I found out how you betrayed me." Shalimar got up to leave, but suddenly felt very light headed and collapsed to the floor.

"Shal!" Brennan said in concern, and helped her up.

"I don't need your help." Shalimar snapped at him and he felt stung by her words.

"Oh yeah, well it looked like you needed me when the doctors from hell were about to slice and dice you!" Brennan argued, raising his voice. Shalimar shot him a warning look and crawled back onto her bed.

"You betrayed me, I thought we had something, something really amazing, but I guess it wasn't enough. _I _wasn't enough." Shalimar turned and shed a few tears into her pillow.

"What are you talking about?" Brennan asked gently. Obviously Shalimar was upset and the last thing he wanted was to enrage her more, but he had to find out why she felt this way.

"I'm talking about you and Kayley." She replied, turning back to him, looking red and puffy around the eyes where she had been crying. Seeing the look of confusion on his face, she continued. "Kayley told me about you and her. About you sleeping together." She turned back around to her pillow.

"She told you what?" Brennan's fury was rising.

"It's ok. I understand if you want her, I just -"

"Shal, I don't want her, I never wanted her. What she told you, it's all bullshit." Brennan explained. "I want you and no one else, it's always been you."

"Really?" Shalimar looked deeper into his eyes than she ever had before and felt a rush of warmth and love.

"How else would you explain why I've been single for so long?" He joked and Shalimar hit him with a pillow.

"Shal. There is something I do need to tell you though." Brennan said, looking down at his arm.

"This isn't good, is it?" Shalimar replied.

"Not really, no." Brennan took a deep breath. "When I first met Kayley, there was something about her to me, but then I thought of you and all I could do was think of you, so I knew it could never happen with Kayley." Brennan finished. Shalimar was stunned by his confession. Although the thought of Brennan and Kayley together made her want to tear out her eyeballs, she was really glad that he had chosen her over Kayley, therefore she wasn't that mad.

"It's ok, as long as you're honest with me. But really, I think it's you who should be cooking me dinner this time." She smiled.

"It's a date." Brennan smiled at her.

"So, what took you so long to come and get me?" Shalimar said, referring to her kidnapping.

"Oh, you know, Jess and I had a game of basketball and then we went to the pub for a few drinks." Brennan joked and Shalimar playfully hit him. He started tickling her and she burst into laughter and Brennan laughed watching her.

"Stop!" She shouted in between laughs.

"Never." Brennan replied. Shalimar grabbed his hands and forced them above his head, while she was sitting on top of him. She leaned down and kissed him. The kiss was passionate and intense and before they knew it, Brennan was unbuttoning her shirt and Shalimar had taken off his top. They were touching each other so tenderly, yet they kissed so powerfully. _This is perfect, _they thought in unison.

"Hey Lexa?" Jesse walked into Lexa's room, unaware that she was changing.

"Jess!" Lexa ran to her bathroom. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"I am so sorry, I'll come back later." Jesse went to leave.

"No, it's ok," Lexa emerged from the bathroom wearing a leather skirt and a black top. _She's so beautiful, _he gaped. "So, what did you want?" Lexa snapped him back to reality.

"I said I'd be here if you wanted to talk. You know, about Kayley." Jesse said, staying near the door. He didn't want to invade her privacy.

"What's to talk about? I trusted someone and it came back to bite me in the ass. The lesson here is to not trust anyone, that way, I can't get hurt." Lexa said, tidying up her room.

"No, the lesson here is to be careful who you trust. You can't not trust anyone ever again." Jesse pointed out. Lexa just ignored his comment and continued to tidy up. _God, she's stubborn, _Jesse huffed. Jesse grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.

"Do you trust _me_?" Jesse asked, he had to hear this for himself.

"Come on Jess, let go, I've got stuff to-"

"Answer the question Lexa." He interrupted. She looked at him in the eye.

"I don't know." She answered and he let her go, feeling really disappointed. She went and sat on her bed, playing with her nails.

"It's just all so confusing. I want to trust you, I really do, but I'm afraid I'll get hurt again." She confessed.

"I'd never hurt you." Jesse said gently. "Never." She smiled to herself, _he's so sweet! _Out of nowhere, Jesse kissed her and Lexa pulled back surprised.

"I'm sorry, that was-" Jesse begun, but Lexa kissed him back before he could finish.

"Don't be, I was just a little surprised." She smiled and it was the most beautiful sight Jesse had ever seen.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to kiss you, to tell you that I care for you more than anything." He confessed, slightly blushing.

"Me too. Even Kayley could see I liked you." Lexa replied.

"Lexa, I just want you to know-" Lexa put her fingers on his lips.

"Not now Jess." She kissed him. This time more confidently and Jesse returned her affection. Their bodies were entwined and although there were two of them physically, spiritually it felt like one.

Shalimar awoke in the morning, with Brennan beside her. _He is so cute when he sleeps, _she smiled. However amazing and relaxing last night was, she still had some rage issues about Kayley she had to deal with, so she decided to go to the training room and let Brennan sleep. Her wounds were still sore, but not as bad as yesterday. Besides, she figured if she beat up a punching bag and envisioned it was Kayley, she would feel a lot better. Shalimar got up and went into the bathroom to change. Slipping out of the room, Shalimar gave Brennan a quick kiss on the forehead and left for the training room.

Lexa was awake at 9:30am for the first time in her life and she felt great. Jesse and her had had a wonderful night that she would never forget. _I just hope Jesse feels the same way, _Lexa thought. Jesse was still sleeping, but Lexa felt sort of restless now and as much as she'd like to sleep next to Jesse until he woke up, she felt she still had some stuff to deal with on the whole Kayley situation. So she got up and got changed into some kick-ass clothes to go and beat something up in the training room. She gave Jesse one last look and headed out.

When Lexa had got to the training room, she found Shalimar already there, beating the shit out of the punching bag.

"Careful, you don't want to break it." Lexa said, entering the room.

"Hey Lex. What are you doing up so early?" Shalimar noticed, taking a break from the punching bag.

"Just thought I'd get up early and do a little training." Lexa explained.

"Cool, me too. Sorry if this hurts but I still have some anger issues on the whole Kayley thing." Shalimar said, turning back to the punching bag and giving it fiercer punches and kicks than before.

"I'm sorry Shal." Lexa apologised. Shalimar stopped and looked at her.

"For what?" Shalimar looked confused.

"For telling Kayley about you guys, for inviting her here and mostly I'm sorry for sticking up for her when we'd found out the truth." Lexa finished; sitting down by the wall and Shalimar shortly joined her. "I guess I just didn't want to except that she betrayed me."

"Lex, you did those things because you found someone you trusted and I don't blame you for trusting someone, just… be careful who you choose to trust." Shalimar advised.

"Thanks." Lexa replied, getting up. Shalimar went back towards the punching bag. "Hey Shal," Lexa said. "Can I trust Jesse?"

Shalimar smiled and answered, "He's the one person you definitely don't have to worry about." Lexa smiled this time.

"Hey, you wanna spar?" Lexa asked.

"Sure, just don't hate me when I kick your butt." Shalimar teased. Before they could star a voice called out to them.

"If you're going to spar with anyone, it should be me." Lexa and Shalimar turned around and saw nothing.

"It's Kayley in stealth mode." Shalimar whispered. Shalimar used her golden feral eyes to see Kayley's body heat like she had found Lexa the first time they met.

"There." Shalimar pointed and then Kayley came out of stealth so that both women could see her.

"What are you doing back here?" Lexa asked defensively.

"You're not happy to see me?" Kayley looked at her.

"You betrayed me and tried to kill Shal." Lexa cried.

"Yeah, about that. Sorry Lex, I had to. As for Shalimar, it wouldn't have been such a big loss." Kayley smiled and stood in a defensive stance.

"It would have been to me." Brennan interrupted and sent a blast of energy Kayley's way. She staggered back slightly.

"That was not nice!" Kayley shouted at him, but Brennan just shrugged.

"I have a feeling Lex and Shal are going to want to take care of you." Brennan faced Lexa and Shalimar. "Ladies?"

"Thanks Bren." Shalimar answered. Shalimar immediately lunged into the air and plunged a kick right into Kayley stomach followed by Lexa who punched her square in the face. As this was happening, Jesse walked in.

"Hey Brennan, what's going on?" Jesse asked, leaning against the walk next to Brennan watching Lexa and Shalimar beat the crap out of Kayley.

"The girls are dealing with Kayley." Brennan simply explained.

"How long has this been going on?" Jesse asked.

"About 2 minutes." Brennan replied. Shalimar and Lexa were still double-teaming against Kayley and obviously Kayley was getting beaten up pretty bad. Unluckily for Shalimar and Lexa, Kayley kicked both of them very hard into the stomach. This gave time for Kayley to blind them, including Brennan and Jesse, and then go back into stealth mode. Before Shalimar could get up, she could feel Kayley kicking her in the spine and she was in too much pain to retaliate. Lexa, however, couldn't see where Kayley was.

"Where is she Shal?" Lexa shouted.

"She's just finished kicking me in the back." Shalimar cried with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Shal, can you do that feral thing you do and find her please." Lexa commanded and then felt an over-whelming pain in her jaw as she was knocked backwards. Shalimar was watching with her feral eyes glowing.

"Um, I think she might be right in front of you." Shalimar said sarcastically.

"Thanks Shal." Lexa said between beatings. Shalimar lunged herself on top of Kayley, making it look like to everyone else that she was floating in mid-air.

"You know what," Lexa said. "Two can play this game." And then Lexa herself turned invisible.

"Oh great, now I feel really left out." Shalimar joked. Shalimar changed to her feral eyes again and could see both body heats. The slight flaw in Lexa's plan though, was that Shalimar wasn't 100 sure which body heat was Kayley's and which was Lexa's.

"Lexa, this won't work, I don't know which body signature is yours and which one is-" Shalimar was stopped by Kayley who was behind her and had now delivered loads of punches, kicks and she thought something that felt like a metal rod. Lexa could see that Shalimar was getting beaten up, so she rushed over there to help. She thought Kayley was behind her, punched the point in air that would most likely be the height of her face, and connected with what she guessed was Kayley's jaw. This gave Shalimar time to stand up.

"Thanks." She said in between breaths.

"Anytime." Lexa replied. Surprisingly, Kayley came out of stealth.

"Come and get me." Kayley taunted, Shalimar and Lexa looked at each other and then ran at Kayley, who was firmly holding her ground. Shalimar and Lexa gave more punches and kicks than before and it was all Kayley could do just to block. With one lucky blow, she punched Shalimar, making her lose her balance and then kicked Lexa, making her fall to the floor. Kayley gathered her powers and aimed a ray of light towards Shalimar, which would tear a whole through her body and burn her.

"Goodbye Shalimar." Kayley said, Brennan was about to run towards her, but Lexa kicked her down before he got there.

"We're on top of it Bren." Shalimar smiled reassuringly, before helping Lexa. Kayley had stumbled, but landed one fierce blow to Lexa's head, which knocked her unconscious.

"Lex!" Shalimar and Jesse shouted in unison. Jesse ran over to Lexa as Shalimar continued fighting. Kayley swung a fist towards Shalimar's face, but Shalimar ducked it and twisted Kayley's arm around her back and pushed, snapping the bone. Shalimar let go and Kayley turned around to face Shalimar, screaming about her arm. Shalimar just smiled and swung her arm at Kayley's head with such a force that her neck snapped, which everyone heard.

"Stay off my territory!" Shalimar shouted to the lifeless corpse. Brennan came over to Shalimar and took her in his arms. Her wounds her reopened on her stomach and face and some new one's had appeared, but to Brennan, she's never looked so beautiful.

"Are you alright?" Brennan asked, caressing her face.

"Nothing a bath and some company won't cure." She smiled and Brennan lit up.

"I'm in." Brennan volunteered and laughed. Jesse had just about woken Lexa up and she immediately saw Jesse.

"Hey." He smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Well," She said, rubbing her head. "That'll be bruised tomorrow, but otherwise I'm fine." Jesse helped her.

"Thanks Jess." Lexa said, feeling slightly light-headed. Looking over at Shalimar and Brennan and seeing them hugging she said, "I told you those two would get together." Shalimar looked at Jesse and Lexa.

"Funny, I was telling Brennan the same thing about you two." Shalimar smiled and then looked at Brennan. "You owe my 20 bucks."

"How about dinner on me?" He smiled.

"Good enough."Shalimar replied, kissing him.

"Yeah, I think Lex and I are gonna stay in. What do you say?" Jesse turned his attention to Lexa.

"I'd love to." Lexa answered, kissing him too.

"Um, what about her?" Shalimar pointed to Kayley. Her body was twisted and she had died with a surprised and tormented look on her face.

"I'll send the Dominion in to collect her. It's their problem now." Lexa said. She still felt she had a lot to learn about trust, but with Jesse by her side, she felt she'd learn quickly. Brennan retreated to his room with Shalimar, as did Jesse and Lexa to his room.

THE END OR MAYBE A BEGINNING


End file.
